


Interlude

by griever11



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Episode Related, F/M, Family, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13109397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griever11/pseuds/griever11
Summary: Missing scene from episode 6x06 'Promises Kept. While Oliver's away helping Slade, Felicity and William get accustomed to a new normal.





	Interlude

Felicity receives the text message late in the afternoon, just as Curtis starts packing up his things, both of them done with work for the day. She glances at her phone, and when it appears to be from a string of unfamiliar numbers, she frowns. 

Everyone she knows has been programmed into her contact list. And strangers don’t have her number. 

They  _ shouldn’t  _ anyway _. _

Curtis, as usual, riding on the same wavelength as she is, picks up her phone and hands it to her. “I can run a trace on that real quick before I go?” 

She thumbs the messaging app and pulls up the text. After a beat, she smiles, shaking her head in amusement. “No, no. It’s okay. I got it - go home, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

He narrows his eyes at her but leaves anyway, making her promise to call him if she needs him for anything else. 

Felicity locks her door, triple locks it, actually - Oliver made her install new ones after he found out how easily Elena got into her apartment - and collapses on her couch. The leather squeaks under her and not for the first time, she kind of regrets moving her giant, blue bean bag chair into storage. It had been  _ sooo  _ comfortable, but Oliver... 

She blushes at the memory. 

They’d been rather eager that night of their reunion and as comfortable as that chair had been, it was evidently not very made for enthusiastic sex. At all. 

Her phone beeps in her hand and she turns to it, a shadow of a smile playing on her lips as she reads the message. She doesn’t have time to reply before a barrage of texts follow the first one. 

_ Felicity please.  _

_ Raisa wants me to clean my room.  _

_ I already cleaned it.  _

_ I don’t know how much cleaner it can be.  _

_ Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.  _

She rolls her eyes at the final one. William truly is his father’s son - not that Oliver would ever use pop culture references as often as his son does, but both the Queen men have definitely mastered the art of being cute and adorable (or in Oliver’s case, completely irresistible) and she finds herself helpless against their charm.   

_ What did I say about using the VPN anonymizer program to text me?  _

She fires off her reply as she gets up from her couch, walking into her room to change into more casual clothing to go over to Oliver’s apartment. Because who’s she kidding? There’s no way she’s ignoring his (albeit over-dramatic) plea for help.   

Yeah. Completely and utterly helpless. 

Rummaging through her closet, she decides a simple tank top and yoga pants will do for the night. Neither William nor Raisa will care, and if Oliver comes home at some point, well. 

She smirks to herself.  _ Easy access.  _

She pauses for a moment when she spies her duffel bag on the floor of her closet. Without giving herself much more time to think, she shoves a pair of jeans a couple of shirts into the bag. It won’t be the first time she stays the night, although she’s never stayed without Oliver around. But it means she gets to keep an eye out on William while Oliver’s away and that was a good enough reason enough for her. 

Her phone chimes again as she’s shutting her front door and enabling the motion triggered alarm system. She readjusts the shoulder strap of her overnight bag and unlocks her phone. 

_ To only use it in emergencies. But this is an emergency. Raisa won’t give me my phone back until I clean my room. I’ve cleaned it! Can you please come over and talk to her, please? She’ll listen to you.  _

And then:

_ We have ice cream.  _

Oh, the kid definitely knew the way to her heart. Felicity responds to him one last time before she gets into the elevator, Oliver’s keys (and the ridiculous emoji keychain) dangling from her fingers. 

_ Calm down. I’m on my way. You better not be lying about the ice cream.  _

* * *

 

Raisa greets her the moment she swings Oliver’s front door open, arms folded, head cocked to one side, lips pursed. 

“How did he manage to call you?” Raisa asks without preamble, her face stern, but otherwise betraying no other emotion. 

Felicity plasters on a too-wide grin on her face, feeling exactly like she’s back in high school, being called into her principal’s office for hacking into the school’s servers so she could swap her gym period for biology. 

She clears her throat at the unbidden memory. She’s a hundred percent sure Raisa doesn’t want a lengthy explanation of the cloaking VPN technology she installed on William’s Xbox, so she goes with the next best explanation. “Um. With his amazing telepathic powers?”

Raisa groans, deflating and uncrossing her arms. She moves to the side, letting Felicity in. “You two are a terrible influence on each other,” she grumbles but there’s a hint of a smile on her face that puts Felicity at ease. 

“Oliver’s worse though, don’t you think?” she lobbies back, taking off her coat and hanging it on the back of the door. “Didn’t he tell William to go punch some other kid in school?” 

Raisa lets out a pained sigh. “Yes, do not remind me. He is the  _ most _ terrible. Here, let me you with that.” 

She takes Felicity’s bag from her and walks towards the living room. “If you’re staying tonight, do you mind if I head home then? Here’s William’s phone, by the way.  _ You  _ try to get him to do anything productive with his nose is buried in this thing.” 

Felicity chuckles at the older woman’s exasperation. Her fingers have barely closed around the phone when William hurtles out of his room, socked feet skidding over the hardwood floor as he makes his way to her.

“Yesssss,” he crows with a triumphant grin on his face, his hands reaching out to take it from her. “You’re the best. Hello!”

Felicity avoids his grabby fingers easily and pulls him into a hug instead. “Hug first, young man. And I totally get it, by the way. I probably would die without my phone too. I need it, like, all the time. Not for Facebook or whatever but you know. Work.” Her voice drops into a whisper. “And  _ other _ work.” 

William detangles himself from her embrace and nods, taking in her allusion to Team Arrow in his stride. “Okay, great! So you understand why I need it. See, Raisa? Felicity needs her phone all the time too.” 

Felicity shoots a wary glance at Raisa, wide-eyed with guilt. She totally didn’t mean to look like she was taking sides. But Raisa merely shrugs, wrapping a scarf around her neck as she prepares to leave for the night. She winks at Felicity when she exits the apartment, as if she’s saying  _ he’s your problem now, good luck. _

Oh, boy. 

“So, can I have it back then, Fliss?” William asks her, eyes round and pleading. Apparently he’s realised just making a grab for it won’t work with her so he’s turning on his charm. She doesn’t know when he started calling her  _ Fliss _ \- it kind of just _ happened - _ but he knows she likes it. Sneaky little manipulator. Just like his dad. God, she is in so much trouble.  

“Did you actually clean your room?” she asks, attempting at the very least to pretend to have some form of authority. 

“Ye- _ es. _ ” William rolls his eyes at her and it reminds Felicity so much of Oliver that a surge of affection rises through her.  

“Good,” she says as she finally holds out the phone to him, only to pull her hand back when he reaches out for it. She fixes him with a pointed glare when he grunts in displeasure. “But promise you won’t use the VPN again unless it’s a real emergency.” 

William sighs. “Yes, I promise. Please, can I have it back now?”

She doesn’t believe him for even a second, but she relents. “Yeah, okay, buddy. Here. Now, where’s the ice cream you lured me here with?”

* * *

 

“Oliver will not like that we’re having this for dinner,” Felicity murmurs even as she scoops another giant ball of ice cream into her bowl. “Even if it is amazing ice cream.” 

They’re sitting at the kitchen counter, William digging into his Rocky Road, and her into the tub of Mint Chip that Oliver has started keeping in his fridge for her. A random episode of Doctor Who plays on the flat screen behind them. Her bare feet dangle down the tall bar stool she’s half-sitting on and not for the first time, she feels like this is something she can definitely get used to. 

Quiet evenings with William, discussing everything from their favorite episodes of TV to whatever homework or school projects William needs help with. She finds that despite Oliver not being home, the awkwardness she expects to befall them doesn’t exist. He’s easy to talk to, smart and quick-witted, so mature for his age. The fact that he doesn’t seem to mind being alone with her helps too. 

“If we tell him it’s your idea, he won’t get angry,” William offers with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “He never gets angry at anything you do.”  

Felicity wrinkles her nose at him. “Sometimes he does. But maybe he won’t if we tell him the nuts in your Rocky Road is kinda like protein, and that’s a really important food group. Not sure how we’re gonna swing my Mint Chip though.”

“But he  _ won’t _ get angry at you,” William insists. “So you don’t have to  _ swing  _ anything. And if he does, then you can just kiss him and he’ll forget all about it.”

She blushes at his words but she can’t really deny the truth. So she makes do with shoving him gently and pulling the tub of Rocky Road away from him. “Ha ha, you think you’re hilarious, don’t you? No more ice cream for you.”

“I’m full anyway, I wanna play Injustice now.” He hops off the stool and goes back into the living room, powering on his console. 

A strange sense of peace overcomes her as she watches him, like a warm blanket on a cool winter’s night. Things are going so well for her -  _ them _ \- and she honestly can say she’s never been more confident in her relationship with Oliver now more than ever. 

And even with the FBI poking their nose in Team Arrow’s business, even with her start up not really _ starting up _ at the moment, she’s happy. 

So happy. 

“Are you gonna sit there all night or are you going to come play this with me?” William calls out to her, holding up his second controller. 

With a grin, she slides off the stool to put their tubs of dessert away, and makes her way to him. 

Yeah. She definitely can get used to this. 

* * *

 


End file.
